Biography
David Oyelowo is a British actor, director and producer. Born on 1 April 1976 in Oxford, he trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and began his career on stage and in British television.
He rose to prominence playing MI5 officer Danny Hunter in the BBC series Spooks (2002–2004). His film roles include supporting parts in The Last King of Scotland (2006), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), The Help (2011), Lincoln (2012) and Jack Reacher (2012). He portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma (2014).
Oyelowo has received a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards, with nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a BAFTA Award. He was appointed OBE in 2016 for services to drama. On television he has appeared in Les Misérables (2018), Silo (2023) and Lawmen: Bass Reeves (2023), and stars as Long John Silver in the series Treasure Island (2026).
